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To do: application updates

February 1st, 2022

It’s February! You’ve done the work; applications have been submitted and now you’re supposed to relax and just wait, right? Well, maybe not!

Sitting back and relaxing is not all that easy while you play the waiting game. I’m asked all the time if there is anything students can do to improve their chances after applying, and the answer is yes, particularly if weeks or even months have elapsed since application submission.

Whether you’ve applied Regular Decision or been deferred through an Early plan, sending updates through college admission portals or writing letters can be helpful. Discuss new academic interests and projects, along with any new extracurricular accomplishments, research progress, etc.

Some colleges indicate through their “update guidance” that they want to know how serious an applicant you are. So, letting a school know it’s your top choice and why can be beneficial, too, if you have clarity about that.

The information in the article linked below from Medium, although aimed at college applicants, is useful for college and boarding school applicants alike.

Article linked below from Medium, published on February 15, 2019 written by Theo Wolf

Guide to Sending an Update to Colleges After Applying

So you’ve sent in your applications and now you’re nervously waiting to hear back. You might be wondering if there’s anything more you can do to help sway the decision. The answer is yes! While we don’t recommend inundating the admissions office with updates (there’s a classic story known in college admissions circles about a kid who sent postcards to the admissions office every week), in some cases it can be helpful to send an update to the schools you’ve applied to.

Should I submit an update?

You should submit an update to colleges if you have made significant progress in some aspect of your candidacy story, whether you’ve greatly developed your Spike, won a major award, received serious recognition from a well-known website, etc. If you haven’t done anything noteworthy, an update email is unnecessary, as it will be unlikely to move the needle on your application and may actually annoy admissions officers (they have a massive amount of reading to do this time of year). You don’t need to send an update on grades (unless it’s requested of you), since that will be in your counselor’s midyear report. We particularly recommend an update if the college cares about demonstrated interest.